That is true in a sense.
But that line of thinking takes you to the true, but useless stance that no operation/system/plan can be judged till its finished and over.
It is reasonable to look at what information you have and make substancial but not definative judgments. Based on the 7 or 8 reviews I saw come out of Gencom it seems most reasonable to exspect high things from WoW.
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Not going to comment on anything particular since this thread has gotten quite large, but as to some specific issues...
MMORPGs are usually multiple millions in the hole by the time they go live due to long development times and the need to code multiple different types (billing, client, network, etc.). The servers they are running aren't cheap either since farms of Hewlet Packard Proliant DL140, Dual P4 Xeon 3.2 ghz were projected: over $4k per computer * 6 per server * 18 servers = almost half a million for their servers, and Mythic is good about upgrading every 6 months or so. Also, game companies actually only get 40% of the box price, the rest goes to marketing, publisher, distributer, etc. so even the box price doesn't do well at recouping the huge development/server costs that these companies suffer from even pre-release. Add in the fact that Mythic is paying for 24/7 CS, a full live team whose sole purpose is to churn out new content and patches, AND enough bandwidth for 30k+ people logged on constantly (which is not nearly as cheap as some people make it out to be).
A Mythic developer frequents my sever's message boards, and when asked about this replied (paraphrasing, the post has long since faded into nothingness :) ) that "Most of the Mythic employees who have been here since the beginning have moved from appartments into houses, but we're hardly getting rich off this. All of us could be making more money if we wanted to, but we're here because we're doing what we love."
*shrug* He's a good guy and has always been honest about affairs at Mythic, I see no reason why he would lie in this one instance.
As to Guildwars... I'll believe it when I see it. The only thing that kept Diablo 1/2 and SC free through battle.net was that the servers were crap, cheating was allowed to run rampant, no CS was procided, no new content was ever added, patches were done sparingly at best, and they were 3 of the best selling games in history. Even then, battle.net was a huge slice into Blizzard game profits. Good luck to the people at Guildwars, but I put little to no stock in what they're claiming in a pre-beta (pre-alpha even?) FAQ. Wasn't Blizzard claiming guild halls were going to be in D2 at one point? You people just never learn that FAQs are just meant to grab attention and do little else :)
Others are saying that MMOGs are "an addiction". Well, you can only get addicted to something if you allow yourself to. There have been documented cases of people getting addicted to running, or eating apples, or basically anything. Just don't *allow* yourself to become addicted. It is kinda disappointing to see people depriving themselves of a large sector of the New Gaming Age (or whatever you choose to call it :) ) just because so much has been made of a few isolated instances involving MMORPG addiction by the media. Just remember: the media is out to make stories, not necessarily give you the whole picture of the issue. MMOGs aren't "crack". They aren't meant to intentionally addict you. They are meant to be fun.
--Mith
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London
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Wow. Nice post Mithrandir.
Good blend of facts, logic and presentation.
I agree with pretty much all your points.
I had thought about trying to make a similar such post but resigned myself since I lacked the communication skills to convey them as well as you.
Nice concise read.
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I do recall the previews surrounding the release of DE:IW... Funny how they were -EXTREMELY- positive about the game, claiming that it's the best thing ever since sliced bread. I believe the same thing was said at E3.
It turned out that it wasn't that great, and has glaring flaws in many, many factors.
Previews - the companies show you what they want you to see. No denying that.
"One day, o-n-e day..."
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Hi
First of all I would like to thank Yuen for kicking of a thread which certainly got people going! There are lots of people proffering different opinions, most of them serious :D
My personal opinion is that I believe Blizz will put out a good game, but I am reserving judgment until I see a real beta test.
good hunting
Prophecy of Deimos
âThe world doesnât end with water, fire, or cold. Iâve divined the coming apocalypse. It ends with tentacles!â
